


A Word on Cramming.

by mistakeandcheese



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: But maybe..., Caring Logic | Logan Sanders, Could Be Canon, Dad Jokes, Gen, Humor, Insecure Logic | Logan Sanders, Light Angst, Logan Cares, Logic | Logan Sanders Angst, Logic | Logan Sanders Needs a Hug, Logic | Logan Sanders-centric, M/M, Minor Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Morality | Patton Sanders is a Sweetheart, Other, Protective Morality | Patton Sanders, Tired Logic | Logan Sanders, You Decide, at least 3 patton punchlines, but let's be real they're all children, it's just love idk, let's be real logan has feelings, let's be real patton loves teasing logan, let's give logan some love people, like seriously he's a sweetheart but he is savage with those puns, logan helps thomas study for a test, logic is a basically a floppy sad baby when he's tired and overworked, logicality - Freeform, maybe roman and virgil are flirting in the background, maybe they're just bratty babies, or could be a ship, patton is here for logan, patton is here for us all, patton taking care of everybody, this could be romanitic or familial, virgil and roman are pretty much the children in this household
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:13:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26153227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistakeandcheese/pseuds/mistakeandcheese
Summary: The day before Thomas's big chemistry exam, Patton notices that Logan is a little...stressed.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil & Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton & Thomas Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders & Thomas Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 11
Kudos: 95





	A Word on Cramming.

“I proposed weeks ago that we start studying for this early, but what does he do? Leave it until the last two days so that I have to work overtime.” Logan was planted at his desk, hair twisted into his left hand as he furiously scribbled down terms from the back of his imaginary replica of Thomas’s chemistry textbook with his right.

Patten had been strolling down the hall of the mind palace when he had heard a sound of frustration and some (only a little bit deranged sounding) muttering coming from Logan’s study. He had decided to check on him, and was now quite glad he did. “Well look at the bright side!” he said, hoping to relieve a little of Logan’s twitchy frustration. “At least Anxiety got through to him before it was too late.”

“It already is too late!” Logan snapped. “I’ve looked over the totality of the content he needs to have learned by tomorrow, and concluded that it is highly improbable for us to get anything higher than a C at the rate at which he is currently absorbing the information. Sure, the stress was helpful at first, but now it’s causing his focus to slip and is triggering his tendency to wander away from his books and stare numbly into the refrigerator as if the answer to practice question 4C can be deciphered in the remains of last night’s take out!”

“Okay, Snappy Mc Snapping Turtle, let’s watch our tone. Don’t worry--I’m sure you’ll get our little guy through it.” 

“Whether or not I get ‘our little guy’ through it does nothing to change the fact that I am sick of cleaning up after his messes” Logan muttered, eyes still glued to the textbook. “The messes that he makes specifically due to ignoring my advice in the first place.” 

Poor Logan. He was obviously feeling overwhelmed about everything. Patton wondered if there was any way for him to help. “Would you like me to talk to Anxiety? I could maybe get him to ease up a little--Ooh! I know, I’ll bake some cookies, so he doesn’t feel hungry and make Thomas stress eat. Would that be helpful at all?”

“Yes, perhaps.” Logan said, somewhat dismissively. “It might be of some use. You do that, Patton. Now if you’ll excuse me, I will continue slaving away for the man-child that never listens to me unless he’s got a chem exam to study for.”

“Alrighty Champ. I’ll leave ya to it.”

*

“Heyyyy Logan!” About an hour later, Patton popped into Logan’s room, to find him in exactly the same position as earlier, though perhaps with hair slightly more frazzled. “Everybody’s in the kitchen. Roman followed in after Virgil and I think for once they can agree on one thing--that my cookies really hit the spot--or should I say _chip_ the _choc_?”

“That was not an example of your better material, Patton. Please never say that again.”

“Ah well, you miss 100% of the chocs you don’t bake.”

“If you came here to deeply unsettle and repulse me, you may consider your mission accomplished and leave.”

Patton felt a snicker pulling at the corner of his lip as he leaned against the doorframe.  
“Well then, lucky for you I’ve got an ulterior motive. Why don’t you take a break, Logan? Come eat with us.”

Taken out of context, Logan’s responding tone would have suggested that Patton had spat upon the burial ground of Joan’s late great-grandmother. “Break? _Break_? I’m sorry, but I cannot _take_ a _break_ , Patton, not like the rest of you. Of all the things uncertain in Thomas’s near future, the one thing he has made sure of is _that_.”

Gee, Logan sure did seem to be upset with Thomas. Patton sighed, feeling a little twitch of pain for the situation. “Well, kudos to you for sticking it through for him, Logan.”

Logan grumbled something resentful under his breath, from which the only words Patton was able to distinguish were “man-child” “headache” and “ever listens to me.”

“Well how about this,” Patton began, putting on his best bargaining voice. “You don’t have to eat with us in the kitchen, but I’ll bring you a couple cookies here so you can keep up your energy while you work. Sound like a plan?”

“Urh, fi _ne_.” Logan sighed, sounding nearly as surly and melodramatic as Virgil or Roman.

“Alright, I’ll be back in a tic. _Don’t go anywhere_!”

“You are literally the worst.”

Patton muted his laughter as he left the room. He couldn’t help it! Teasing Logan was just so--

“Patton!”

“Yes?” Patton said, popping his head back around the corner.

“Could you also get me a cup of coffee? Please?”

“Sure thing.”

\--Just so easy.

After that Patton decided to distract Anxiety (and Roman, come to think of it--he had been bemoaning not getting any time to take Thomas into daydream mode today, and Patton was sure Logan would have a conniption if Thomas so much as paused to doodle a flower) with a Disney movie they could both enjoy (something about space…and pirates? Space pirates?).

It was around eleven o’clock when Patton decided to check up on Logan again, having already seen to it that his baking mess was was put away and that Roman and Virgil had shamefacedly cleaned up after the food fight that had broken out after Virgil had pondered the possibility that the protagonist might spend the rest of his living career serving the galactic navy rather than living as a free spirit, and never get to see his (fleeting and inconsistent) father figure ever again, thus leading to an already emotional Roman grabbing the nearest plate of uneaten cookies and--

Well, you get the picture. 

Patton turned the corner into Logic’s study. The scene framed by the edge of the doorway was of Logan’s black-clad back, pressed with the streamlined yellow of the single lamp casting a conical light around the tiny little deskspace which seemed to have become the studious side’s entire realm of existence for the evening. 

Patton knocked softly on the edge of the doorframe, feeling that, like one might approach a bear cave, it was worthwhile to warn the inhabitant rather than sneak up behind without warning. You know, if the sneaker knew the bear personally and was sure that it was at all okay to walk into their cave and talk to them in the first place. 

There was no response. Approaching the desk, Patton wondered for a moment if Logan had fallen asleep. Then he realized that the illusion was simply created by Logan’s chair being extended further out from the desk, so as to allow him room to lean forward and peg his two elbows down on surface, holding his head in two hands as he stared downwards into the depths of _Chapter 11: Reactions of Alkyl Halides_. Apparently, keeping his hands there served the dual purpose of propping his head up and stretching his face so his red-rimmed eyeballs stayed peeled open.

“Woop, don’t mind me” Patton said, scooping the drained, black-stained coffee cup from Logan’s workspace, as well as the crumb dusted plate that used to hold a sum of four, and now zero, chocolate chip cookies. “Wow, Logan, that sure looks like some tough reading material there. Aren’t ya getting a bit tired?”

“A nucleophilic base needs to be charged in order to attract an electrophilic substrate” Logan muttered under his breath, blinking rapidly, the way an old camera shutters as it takes the photograph.

“Well, I have no idea what _that_ means, but it sounds like you really know your stuff to me!” Patton said, wondering if Logan was even processing what he was saying in his strange little study-trance. “Have you thought about maybe calling it a night? Going to bed?”

Logan’s head snapped out of his hands and he shook it vigorously, causing some of his now scattered notes to slip off the edge of his desk. “No, absolutely not. If I go to bed now I will be leaving over two chapters of the content unread.”

“Well”-- Patton stooped to pick up some of the grounded flashcards--“Why don’t you just get _ready_ for bed then? Then when it’s time, you don’t have to worry about it. You'll be more comfortable, and you can work right up until bedtime."

Logan's posture straightened. “Patton, that’s actually a...good idea.” He blinked up at Morality in apparent awe, before giving one determined nod. “I’ll get ready now.”

"Alright, you do that, Logan. And remember not to stay up too late! Thomas's test may be important, but so is your rest."

Logan rolled his eyes before leaving for the bathroom. "Yeah, right. Tell that to Thomas, Patton."

***

Patton decided to stay up a little later than usual that night. It seemed Roman and Virgil had already left the common area for their respective rooms (whether or not they were actually sleeping, Patton highly doubted), so he took advantage of the time to sit peacefully in his favorite dad armchair. Now that the kids--er, um, the Anxious and Creative sides--were settled down for the night, he could spend a bit of time focusing on a little scrapbook project he had started some time ago. That would certainly kill a bit of time before his next check up on Logan.

He took out a stack of photographs wrapped in twine, and loosened them, smiling as he shuffled through some pictures of when Thomas was younger. There he was, dressed up as a little Disney prince for halloween (didn’t he look just like Roman?). There he was, wearing a baggy sweatshirt and sulking shyly in the corner at some classmate’s birthday party (certainly Virgil, shining through like a dark...sun?). There he was, cradling the family dog as if it were his own child (Patton prided himself in the thought that this was his little contribution). And there he was, all sense of logic thrown to the wind as the camera captured him mid leap, launching himself out the side of a moving red and yellow Little Tikes cozy coupe play car. Patton examined the picture a little closer. If you looked at the child’s wild eyes, it was almost as if you could see two different strings of thought competing in the same expression-- 1) “THIS WAS DEFINITELY WORTH IT” and 2) “Why do you _never_ listen to reason?”

Patton moved the photo to the bottom of the pile, deciding to look at the next photo of a family pet instead.

***

When Patton next looked up he realized that it was nearing nearly 3 o'clock in the morning! Definitely past bedtime for him. He quickly put everything away and turned out the lights in the common room before heading back towards the corridor that led to the study. He had meant to check up on Logan a lot earlier--though he doubted Logan would still be up, what with his religious dedication to maintaining a sleep schedule. Then again, few nights was he successful in getting Thomas to stick to it with him. 

Evidently, tonight was one of those nights. The sight that greeted Patton caused him to let out a long sigh of concern and disapproval.

Logan’s chair was pushed out completely, connected to the desk by the drooping, concave slope of Logan’s pajama-clad back. His arms were sprawled all across his desk, which was a total mess.The hood of his favorite unicorn onesie flopped over his face, which was smushed against the open textbook as if it were a pillow.

“Okay Logan” Patton murmured, gently easing his face off the book and peeling page 1021 from sticking to his cheek--(oh, poor thing, the ink had left an imprint directly on his face! Patton supposed he could tease him for it in the morning.) “Let’s get you to bed.”

Logan’s eyes twitched underneath his still shut eyelids. “No” he mumbled, clumsily brushing Patton’s hand from his shoulder and flopping back down onto the desk. “Not yet.”

“C’mon.” Patton sighed, trying to pry him up again, only for him to jerk forward again and clutch the book like it was his anchor to life.

“More time...” His eyelids flickered between open and close and his voice sounded delirious, as if he were half asleep already.

Patton put his hands on his hips. “You go to bed, Logan, right now!”

“Nooooo…” Logan grumble-whined, sounding exactly like a sleepy toddler. “He’s gotta keep studying for the chem'stry exam…”

“Logan, you two have been at it all day. You know just as well as I do that you and Thomas need a good night’s rest if you want any of this to be worth the while. It's time for you to stop."

Logan’s face contorted against page 1021, almost like he was about to have a cry fit. "No, can't stop…"

"Yes, yes _can_ stop, Logan. " Patton asserted, taking Logan by the armpits and physically hauling him out of the chair.

Papers and books clattered to the ground as that single textbook slid across the desk due to Logan's maintained grip. As Patton began to pry it away, he somehow juggled that task with supporting Logan, who blearily protested even as his back began sliding down Patton's torso and toward the ground. 

“Come on Logan, let _go_.” Finally succeeding, he clunked the book down and closed it firmly on the center of the desktop.

Logan’s head lolled helplessly against Patton’s chest as he protested, scraping his nails weakly against his captor’s forearm. “No...you’ve lost…the page…”

“That doesn’t matter right now” Patton grunted, hoisting Logan up a bit to commence the drag away from the desk. “You’ve got to go to bed.”

“But” Logan’s voice cracked, and when he spoke, so did something in Patton’s chest. "I can't...let down...Thomas."

Morality paused. Sighing, he hooked the chair with his toe and turned it around to face him, before dumping Logan back into it. 

"Logan, you listen here,” Patton growled, bracing his hands against the arms of the chair. Even as he said it Logan began sagging forward. He grabbed Logan by the shoulder and pushed him back up. Slightly more awake, Logan blinked blearily up at him in a look of begrudging attentiveness. "Not for one instant do I believe that you will ever let Thomas down. You know why?” Suddenly that old photograph of the red and yellow car popped into his mind, and he smiled, a little sadly. He brushed some of the scattered hair from Logan’s forehead. “Because I know that you care about him very much. And I’m here to tell you, straight from Thomas's heart, that he cares about you too. Very, very much.” He thumbed some dampness from under Logan’s eye, and leant the palm of his hand to support the weight of his head. “Even if it takes him a couple mistakes to listen. Because that’s what learning is."

Logan’s eyelids began to droop, as if Patton’s words were washing over him like sleep medicine.

"You've done everything you can” Patton murmured, gently hooking his arm around Logan’s torso again. “And now it's time to let it go."

Lifting Logan out of the chair, Patton looped Logan's arm around his shoulder to keep him steady. Logic leaned heavily against Morality, eyes closed and glasses lopsided as his head clunked down onto his shoulder. They took a few steps forward before--

“Oop, upsie daisy, sleepy head” Patton murmured, catching him and sinking him down gently before his knees hit the hardwood. Deciding it was easier to just carry him fully, he hooked his arms under Logan’s legs and behind his back, scooping the tired side right off the floor.

Logan's unicorn horn tickled Patton's jaw as he carried him down the halls of the mind palace and into his tidy little bedroom. When they got there, Patton laid him down, took off his glasses, and placed them on the side table. He set Logan's alarm clock (deciding an extra ten minutes wouldn't hurt his morning schedule terribly) and tucked the blankets around him. "There you go, Logan. Sleep tight.” For a moment he gazed down at the slackened face poking out from the unicorn onesie. Then he frowned, licked his thumb--rubbed it across Logan's cheek to rid him of the ink still stamped there. It really wouldn’t do if one of the other sides decided to go and tease him about it in the morning. Logan mumbled something before turning onto his side. 

"No, thank _you_ " Patton replied, turning out the light. 

Patton went to bed.

Tomorrow morning...

(after the big exam, of course)

...he would be having a word with Thomas about cramming.

What word?

“Don’t.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Sander's sides fic! I hope you enjoyed reading it. Writing it was my only solace when I was cramming to meet my own deadlines this past week. Not sure if I'm satisfied with the title, but eh. We'll see.
> 
> I'd be happy to hear what you think! I ended up pouring more of my soul into this one than I thought I would. I just can't stop loving every character in Sander's Sides. Thanks for reading!


End file.
